Opening Notes: So last chapter the battle for Shanxi began, and the Turians have royally pissed off our Mistress of the Heavens. As you might expect, it's time to see them shit their collective hardsuits!

Chapter 4

Bring Down the Sky

In orbit above Shanxi

Around the same time…

General Desolas Arterius POV…

"Uh sir? We have a problem." Captain Laretia Vakarian began as Desolas returned to the bridge after seeing a situation that had required his attention.

Desolas had a bad feeling his day was about to get a lot more complicated. "What is it, Captain?" He had his answer when a comms officer pulled up a live feed recording from one of their fighter squadrons. The casualties were to be expected, it was a war after all, so while seeing more of their people fall was a loss he would answer for when his time came due, what wasn't expected was the severity of the losses in such little time and, even more so, the source of the return fire. "What am I looking at exactly?"

"We don't know sir." His second said with a slow, bemused shake of his head. "Whatever that thing is, it completely obliterated the 22nd Squadron before moving on to another part of the planet to repel more of our fighters and bombers before they could level more than a few city blocks. All we know for sure is that it…she rather since she vaguely resembles a female of any other species we've ever encountered, seems much stronger than any of the primitives' defenses by far. Yet despite her mundane appearance, she's clearly in possession of technology far beyond even the Asari."

"A first contact situation on top of a first contact situation?" Desolas gaped, having no idea what to think of this if it were true. And that this strange alien had decided to side with the primitives was even more worrying if she were this capable on her own. A fear that was compounded when she took a missile to the face, and came out the other side without a scratch while those she'd tried to save weren't so fortunate, her vengeful wrath a sight to behold as she stopped holding back. "Have all squad leaders be on the look out for this female. If she can't be stopped by conventional means, then we will simply have to come up with something more impactful. Begin orbital bombardment on her location as soon as we have a viable target lock on her position. Ensure any ground forces we have in the area are pulled back if possible. Otherwise…may their ancestors' spirits be with them. I won't needlessly sacrifice more of our people to this alien woman's wrath than I must."

Captain Vakarian's response was solemn, but dutiful as ever. "Yes sir."

Desolas ignored his orders being relayed, his gaze on the last image that'd been captured of this mysterious female that looked remarkably like the aliens they were already fighting, yet was clearly something more if her technological prowess and capabilities were anything to go. Yet Desolas couldn't help the sinking feeling in his stomach since he had a bad feeling that it wouldn't be that easy to remove this alien from his skies. But no, he had faith in his people, in the strength of their weapons, and they had plenty of debris they'd collected from the wreckage around the relay and now in orbit around the planet to ensure their air superiority even if they lost every fighter they still had. One small thing was at least working in their favor, and that was that she didn't seem capable of firing on their ships above the planet or in orbit around it. But he couldn't begin to explain how she was able to fire golden beams of energy from her fingertips, or how she was able to summon homing missiles of the same with seemingly her will alone.

There had to be a logical explanation to all that she was capable of, but without having her sent back to be dissected by people far more scientifically minded than him, there'd be no answers found here. However, it didn't change the fact that she had made herself an enemy, and enemies could only be handled one way. She would be crushed beneath the might of his fleet, as would those she had allied herself with. There could be no other option as far as he was concerned. His brother would agree with him in any event, although Desolas wondered what Saren was up to right now.

Being named a Spectre had been a point of pride and honor for their entire clan, and Desolas had wished him all the best at the time, but he found himself wondering what Saren would make of all this. Chances were he'd be leading the ground assault, sabotaging important infrastructure, taking prisoners for interrogation, and generally doing what needed to be done to win the day. If all else failed, he suppose he could try to pin this alien down and try to have her subdued and brought to his ship, preferably in a body bag so that these primitives' spirits would be broken that much quicker.

"Begin bombardment." The captain said simply and Desolas watched as the debris they had gathered was flung towards the planet along carefully calculated trajectories. They weren't using their main guns, as such they weren't breaking any Citadel laws. Even so, this tactic should still prove more than devastating enough. But as ever, his bridge and gunnery crews were up to the task, and they didn't disappoint as, thirty seconds later, they had confirmation of multiple impacts where these primitives had been gathered, his crews having identified their bases and defensive emplacements some time ago. "Targets destroyed- Wait… some of them have been intercepted!"

Desolas didn't need to ask what or who was responsible because he already knew.

The skies above New Taiyan

May 6th, 2157, 2:11 PM…

Ishtar POV…

She could only watch as dozens of chunks of debris were fired down upon the surface of Shanxi. Unbeknownst to the Turians however, Ishtar smirked quietly to herself as most of those same chunks, while kicking up large clouds of dirt and dust when they struck the ground, causing a lot of destruction wherever they landed, hit only empty bases or open expanses of land with nothing of value for miles around.

Not that it stopped her from shooting down some of them despite the fact they would hit nothing of value. "All war is deception, something you'd think they would've learned from the Salarians by now." She muttered to herself, though she did frown since some of the chunks of debris were on a collision course with inhabited areas of the planet.

Those she didn't ignore either as she blasted towards them at all speed, firing the moment she was certain she could safely destroy the pieces that were being dropped on their collective heads. She did manage to blast them apart handily enough, but some shards, small and harmless as they were, fell past her only to be deflected by the barrieres she had erected earlier, not that the turians would notice anything of that until the concealment was pierced.

Then she glared up at the heavens wondering what they'd do next.

The answer was simple if predictable.

They threw more debris, much more. So she made a show of zipping about the place as quickly as she could and shooting as much down as she could, trying not to prioritize those that were headed for places that were actually worth something in an effort not to give anything away. She had no idea if this was working or not, after all she hadn't exactly fought in a war before, so her attempts to conceal her own strength, even as some part of her hated the deception, and try to confound the enemy were just hastily made up things that she could only pray… hope would suffice.

So far though her efforts, and those of the people who had painted the same symbols she'd shown them over the extranet with some help from those willing to lend her a hand to make sense of their version of the internet's live streaming services, were bearing fruit since none of the places that had been concealed and placed under her magical protection had yet to be solidly targeted. That would likely change if this kept up for much longer, but for now the skies were still hers and thus humanity's. But she also knew that humanity's technology wasn't up to snuff, and while they fought valiantly at every turn, she could sense many of the System Alliance's forces being decimated all over the planet even as she continued to keep their homes as safe as she could manage, but even she would eventually tire.

Already she was starting to slow a little, her magical bolts hitting with less devastating force, but she was also growing stronger. She'd still need to rest, but the next time she was out here, she'd be even more capable than she already was. As it was, she plowed through another Turian fighter before grabbing another by the wing. Spinning around like a top, she casually threw the fighter into another, and watched both plummet in a ball of fire. She didn't waste time admiring her handiwork since there were many more where they came from.

Clearly the Turians were trying to deploy their fighters in regions where she wasn't, trying to lure her away with debris from orbit, or both. General Williams almost constantly screeched into her ear to tell her where she had to go next to intercept one thing or another. For a man who hadn't wanted her around before, he was now working her like a mule. Honestly, she ought to make the man kiss her feet and have him beg her for her forgiveness when this was over for having her work so damn hard!

Another barrage of rounds slammed into her back, and Ishtar glared at the offending fighter as it tried to dive into a nearby canyon. She didn't pursue, but she did throw a few of her magical homing missiles towards the little pest, having them chase the fighter down. It was just as well because she'd had just about enough of their orbital bombardment, especially when she realized they were targeting her directly with the debris chunks now. "Hmph, I suppose I have to congratulate them for prioritizing me, but this is just making me even more pissed off!"

She glared up at the sky, wondering if perhaps it was time to target the orbiting ships directly. She'd have to get closer to truly see them and- She noticed that all the Turians in the vicinity had retreated… a lot. "What the-" She didn't see the shell, it moved too fast at a fraction of the speed of light, but still a sizable enough fraction to catch her off guard. She didn't know if they pulled off the direct hit on purpose, or had just expected to get her with the shockwave of the impact if it had missed.

Either way, she was smacked out of the sky like a mere fly, thrown backward, her back smashing into the earth where she was buried beneath tons of rock and dirt. "-tar! Ishtar!"

"Owwww…." She groaned, tapping at the earpiece to shut Jacob's screeching up before growling out, "I'm glad you're so concerned for my wellbeing, but I'm fine, but now they've really pissed me off!"

"You just took a slug from one of their main guns?! How are you-"

"I keep telling you that I'm a goddess, General Williams. Do try to pay better attention in the future." She retorted before pushing herself out of the deep hole that the Turians had hoped would be her grave. Unfortunately for them, all they'd done was make her even more determined to utterly ruin their day. Blasting out of the ground that was still smoking, the impact crater wreathed in fire, Ishtar was a golden comet of light that went right to the edge of Shanxi's breathable atmosphere before she gathered a large part of her magical power for her next shot through her maana.

"You've incurred the wrath of the Mistress of the Heavens, she who destroyed a mountain for the crime of being more beautiful than I. Did you really think I'd let your hostile takeover of this world go unanswered?!" She shouted, her voice reverberating impossibly across all channels, through the emptiness of space, shaking the ships in place with the force of her voice alone. They had no idea what hit them until it already had as Ishtar gathered her energy into a single point, and fired. The golden beam wasn't much bigger than her usual shots, but the shockwaves that erupted from the bolt as it traveled through the sky and into the void above were quite telling of the power behind the magical attack she'd just unleashed long before it hit one of the corvettes dead center.

The corvette shattered like a glass window before a hailstorm, hundreds of Turian lives snuffed out in an instant as Ishtar turned and fired again, proving that she wasn't limited to Shanxi's surface when she took out a carrier next. That certainly garnered her their undivided attention as the rest of the fleet practically screeched to a halt before prioritizing her with a vengeance. She could just imagine the officers scrambling to make sense of the sudden destruction of two of their orbiting vessels, but by the time the first rounds came down, Ishtar had moved on before returning the favor once more. "I am the Goddess of Justice and War. Of Love and Sex. Fertility and Good Harvests. And you've just reaped a most bitter harvest indeed for your arrogance!" Another focused bolt of magic, another carrier was wiped from existence, as was the frigate that was just above and to the right of the doomed vessel. Both suffered the same fate. Two for one had to be some kinda record for her, but she was using up too much of her power at this rate. As much as she wanted to wipe out the rest of the fleet, she couldn't afford to do so without taking time to recover first.

So she pulled back for now, trusting that she'd given General Williams and his remaining forces some much needed breathing room. To her relief though the Turians also pulled back from orbit, the fighters still in atmosphere rushing to return to their ships. She supposed it made sense, they knew she had just survived a direct hit from one of their mass drivers. That they had even considered firing them at her was a statement in and of itself. Now they would have to try and figure out what to do next.

Whatever they came up with, she'd be ready for them.

A secure command base below New Taiyan

3:21 PM…

General Jacob Williams POV…

It'd been almost an hour, and he was still utterly stunned by the reports that had come in.

Ishtar had survived a direct impact from one of their main guns.

A weapon that, as far as his techs could tell, were able to fire projectiles at a fraction of the speed of light. That they were using a similar principle as their own capital ship weapons, just many times better, wasn't lost on Jacob, but he'd seen what even one of those slugs could do to a hard target. There was rarely anything left to say that there'd been a building there to begin with, save for a miles wide crater. So that Ishtar had survived a direct impact from a city busting weapon was…beyond mind boggling. Simply put, it shouldn't have been possible.

More impossibly, she'd gone right back up there and made the invaders pay for it by effortlessly destroying several of their capital ships before she had been forced to retreat, citing that she was…tired. Yet whatever the reason for her falling back, the even more ludicrous fact about her was that there wasn't a mark to be seen on her exposed skin, of which there was plenty. His first instinct had been to demand answers of her, to know just why she hadn't done so to begin with.

But he could guess.

From what he'd seen, she couldn't leave the planet's atmosphere. How she had managed to come here then he had no idea, but given that restriction her ability to strike back was limited once they moved too far away. She had tried to avoid escalation with the aliens until they had escalated things first.

In some sense it was a blessing to be in command of this utter mess.

Otherwise he'd have time to actually think about the impossibility of all of this. Sometimes, when there was a blessed lull in activity, he found himself questioning if he had gone insane. It certainly would explain things… and make more sense than what was currently happening. He wasn't blind or deaf, he heard people talk, it had started when she flew about the planet at blinding speed, performing maneuvers that would've torn any man made craft in half, then she had started to tear enemy fighter squadrons from the skies and had protected them from orbital bombardment through… various means.

Ishtar. They whispered her name under their breath, their voices filled with hope, veneration, and awe. Repeating her name as though it was a prayer granting protection. Some of them outright treated her as a goddess.

He couldn't blame them.

Nothing mortal could shrug off the impact of what was basically a nuke and not just survive but actually kill whoever had fired it at them. Nothing human could simply materialize one of the oddest looking 'skycars' anyone had ever seen, and then proceed to use it as a capital ship killer through what appeared to be her own force of will, which was a sight to behold all its own. And there was the transmission she had broadcasted on all channels, her voice cutting through the terror and chaos on all fronts while simultaneously giving the enemy pause. How she'd pulled that off, hacking both sides' communication channels, his techs had no idea on that either, but it certainly added to the stack of evidence that Ishtar was clearly something altogether different than they were prepared to handle.

But even if she truly was a goddess as she claimed, Jacob wasn't about to turn his back on his family's faith. If others wanted to do so, that was their business, but he wouldn't take the chance she wasn't what she claimed to be. Besides, there was only one God according to the good book he held to, and he was pretty sure he didn't dress like her. But even if he never started worshiping the ground she deigned to walk on, he could all too easily understand why others among his people would with what they'd seen already from Ishtar.

"Anything to report?" He asked tiredly as he felt a presence behind him.

"I just finished my examination of Ishtar. There isn't a scratch on her either externally or internally." Doctor Chakwas told him and shifted in place, a blush slowly creeping up onto her face. "She is… remarkable."

"Remarkable, doctor?" Jacob sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose even as he slowly turned to see the smug woman herself leaning casually against the side of the door, "I guess I'll have to impress you more before you start singing my praises." Her smile grew impish. "And believe me, there'd be a lot of singing involved."

"I thought you were exhausted?" He grumbled, only to see the slight way she sagged and seemed to be using the wall as more of a support than he'd initially assumed.

"I am unfortunately. I was able to do a great deal of damage to their orbiting vessels, but using that much magical power has taken its toll. I can restore it given time, or a proper…infusion shall we say, but I doubt you'd appreciate me doing the latter without telling you what would be required first."

"I think I'd prefer not knowing… just go rest and recover. They've withdrawn for now." He told her, shifting uncomfortably in place wondering how the accursed woman managed to give him an erection with but two words even in a situation like this? He could already guess the answer. 'Magic'.

"Could I have a datapad connected to your network as well?"

"Why?" He asked instantly, suspicious and to his surprise she looked sideways as if ashamed.

"I want to know who they were." She doesn't have to explain, he knows what she's talking about, and so after a brief moment of hesitation he nods in agreement.

"I'll have one brought to you soon." He promised her with a curt nod.

"Thank you." She told him, and to his surprise he actually thought that she meant it. "Maybe Karin could bring it to me? I could use her company?" She added, of course, and had to ruin things again. Williams couldn't believe that for a moment he actually thought he'd be able to get along with her. The fact that when she turned around the good doctor stared at Ishtar's backside like a woman in a desert would stare at water didn't help matters at all.

Karin though shook her head once Ishtar had gone before quietly saying. "She's so confusing, yet one can't argue that, despite her obviously…capricious and promiscuous nature, that we're fortunate she seems to care about our people as much as she does."

"...That much we can agree with, even if she's pulling out what some are calling miracles from places I'd rather not think about." He grumbled in retort, wondering how his life had gotten so strange. "Do I need to be concerned about your…close involvement with her, Doctor Chakwas?"

Karin had the good grace to blush and look away before letting out a heavy sigh. "...If you had asked me that a few days ago, I would've said no, but now? …She somehow tracked me down in my own home, and…let's just say she can be quite persuasive when she wants to be even when I somehow found the strength of will to turn down her proposition."

"You didn't inform anyone of that, doctor." He reminded her mildly, causing her to cough awkwardly.

"Ah… I must've forgot."

"Clearly." He agreed through clenched teeth. "It doesn't matter, not now. We will talk about this… later, assuming we're still alive by then. Right now… just make sure you can take care of any wounded should the need arise and get some rest as well."

"Of course sir." Karin said with a nod before walking away.

Jacob really wanted a drink in that moment, especially since for some reason, the fact that she'd been able to deny Ishtar's proposition didn't exactly fill him with confidence even if his CMO was still doing a top notch job. Because Ishtar didn't strike him as the type to give up easily once she had set her sights on someone, and that she had eyes on the good doctor was…more than a little worrying. Who knew if she'd been compromised in some way? It was then that he realized that Karin had walked away in the same direction as Ishtar had earlier. Son of a bitch, I'm too fucking old for this shit…

With a shake of his head, he turned back to the holographic projections in front of him with tired eyes. Everything beyond orbit wasn't too reliable, only rough positions of enemy ships. Fighters wouldn't be picked up until they entered atmosphere again. In the haste of their retreat, the enemy had been forced to leave some troops behind, and they didn't surrender easily. For now he had ordered his men to encircle them, observe them, but not to waste ammunition, especially artillery and the like. Revealing those positions early would cost them dearly later when they came back… and they would come back, of that he was certain.

Last communication with Captain Alberich of the SSV Oslo had been two days ago. Since then he hadn't seen or heard anything of the remnants of their fleet. The captain had promised him he'd try to continue and bleed the enemy with hit and run tactics, but at this point he might as well be dead and Williams didn't know, or maybe he had run.

He shook his head.

He didn't know the man well, he shouldn't be so quick to think badly of him.

Then again could he really blame the man if he had run? None of them could have imagined just how much Ishtar's help would mean, and with the fact that the orbital defenses had been broken, most of the defensive fleet burning alongside them, Captain Alberich only had a fraction of his former forces at his disposal. Retreating only to return later with reinforcements might very well be the sensible choice here.

He closed his eyes, feeling them remain shut even when he wanted to open them again. He was tired, so damn tired, but someone had to give the orders, at least for a while longer before he allowed himself to rest. The warning beeping of new contacts made him open his eyes despite the fact that his eyelids felt like they weighed a ton each.

Fighters had just breached the atmosphere. Not many, no more than three, no, four squadrons were racing towards the planet at a steep angle, eager to get closer to the ground, no doubt out of fear that Ishtar would show up again and tear them apart again. Even without her though, he wasn't without his own anti-air capabilities.

"IFFs confirmed." One of the men in the command center breathed out, a disbelieving laugh escaping his lips. "Sir, they;re ours! Alliance!"

"Incoming transmission!" Another called out. "It's the Oslo!"

"Let's hear it then." Williams rasped out.

"Alberich here." The officer on the other end of the call said hastily. "I don't know how you drove them back Williams, but thanks to you, I could get close enough to give you some of our fighter escorts." The sound of alarms blaring could be heard over the transmission. "I'm sorry I can't do more… but we're still here, remember that, you're not forgotten."

"Has there been any word from-" The call disconnected before Williams could finish his question, and he looked at the comms officer for answers.

"It wasn't on our end… they must have moved out of range, had their communication jammed or damaged, or-." The man, who couldn't have been older than twenty, said and didn't have to finish his sentence for everyone nearby to know what he meant. If Captain Alberich and his remaining forces had been destroyed…it was just more deaths these alien bastards would have to answer for.

In orbit above Shanxi

Around the same time…

General Desolas Arterius POV…

He watched as another of the enemy's corvettes died, having been too slow to evade, too eager to score one other hit on a Turian cruiser, foolish as it had been. The cruiser's shields would recharge while the corvette remained dead, but he didn't feel any joy from the burning wreckage.

Not after his forces had been gutted by a single alien woman.

He had no idea how it was possible, but at least they had gotten enough footage of this disaster to transmit home. This way… this way he had been able to show the Primarchs that it truly hadn't been a blunder of his own that had cost him so many of his men and women. He'd done everything right, yet something completely unexpected had turned everything he thought was possible on its head.

Of course they weren't happy regardless, but if anything they now understood the need to bring these primitives into compliance. This… anomaly would have to be captured or eliminated, preferably studied in some fashion, at great length. The possibilities she could offer to the Turian Hierarchy were endless! Unfortunately he had no idea how they were going to stop her because they'd hit her dead on with the main gun of one of his corvettes, and she'd come back swinging.

That they'd even scored a direct hit was a miracle in and of itself, and he doubted that any indirect fire from his larger ships would have a better effect on the woman. Whatever she was… He shook his head in annoyance. He was more affected by this than he should've been, but at the same time… the way the fleet had shuddered from her words alone… while in vacuum, their communications hijacked to declare her wrathful warning and condemnation…

He was a soldier, he would do his duty, no matter what, but this was the first time he'd come up against something so impossible that he had no rational explanation to make sense of its very existence. Nothing about this 'goddess' made sense to him, and he was far from the only one that was left scratching his head. At least all he had to do for now was wait until reinforcements arrived from the home world, and keep these primitives under watch. They still had the planet isolated, the remnants of the enemy fleet had been further bled, and even their lead ship had been damaged.

In comparison his own fleet remained largely untouched, save for those vessels that this Ishtar had obliterated. Though he reflected bitterly that was due to the fact that this 'goddess' hadn't damaged any ships since her opening volley. She had extended her hands and something had died, no wounds, only death. He'd never seen such power before, certainly not from something so impossibly small. He could understand if he'd gone up against another dreadnought with an inadequately equipped fleet, or if he'd sent his people to try and take the Destiny Ascension, but a single alien that didn't come up past his lower chest?! Worse yet, her signal had completely disappeared, and no sightings had been reported for some time now, and Desolas didn't like not knowing where she'd gone. Because she had become something akin to a thresher maw, just waiting for the perfect time to strike.

And there were few things worse than feeling like thresher maw bait.

Well, he wouldn't play the part of bait for long. Once the reinforcements were gathered…this invasion would get back on track. Now it wasn't just about teaching these primitives their place. Oh no, Desolas wanted to have that alien woman's head mounted on his wall for the humiliation she'd caused him with her mere existence, daring to strike at his people before disappearing like a cowardly assassin. Her honor was already impugned as far as he was concerned, so she would receive no mercy or respect from him when he finally had her at his mercy, the Council be damned! Saren would approve, and while they had had their differences, this much at least he was certain about. First the primitives would be brought to heel, then this alien female would be vivisected.

After that, everything would be right with the galaxy again.

Secure bunker beneath New Taiyan

3:34 PM…

Doctor Karin Chakwas POV…

Ishtar wasn't in the quarters she had been assigned.

Finding her wasn't difficult however. A half naked goddess made people pay attention. So much so that Karin only had to ask two people who happily pointed her in the right direction, making it far easier to find her through the labyrinth of reinforced tunnels and chambers that were hardened to withstand a significant amount of punishment before finally succumbing. She sincerely hoped they wouldn't have to find out just how much punishment this place could bear however since being buried alive sounded quite an unpleasant way to shuffle off this mortal coil.

It didn't help that Karin was all too familiar with death given her profession.

Returning to the emergency infirmary that was already packed full of wounded soldiers and civilians alike, Karin was surprised to find Ishtar sitting by a marine's bedside, one hand wrapped gently around one of his own. The man was unconscious, but Karin already knew he wouldn't make it. All she and her staff had been able to do was…make him as comfortable as they could as he breathed his last, and with the way his sats were already quite low, it wouldn't be long before that inevitability occurred.

"Your story will not end here. Eric." She whispered to the comatose man that couldn't have been older than twenty-four. So young…and Karin couldn't do anything to save his life, and apparently Ishtar couldn't either. Whether she was just too exhausted, or she simply didn't have the power, Karin didn't know, but she didn't ask either, not about to interrupt this solemn moment. "Your family will know of your noble sacrifice, and my sister will no doubt see your worth when you find your way down to her realm. She will take care of you, I promise because…she loves you, she loves all of you."

As if her silence was some kinda signal, Eric Daniels, an N5 attached to a sniper squad that'd been overrun by the aliens' ground troops, seemed to almost deflate at the same time an all too familiar monotone alarm began. For just a moment, Karin swore she saw a blonde haired mirror of Ishtar standing beside the marine's bedside, gathering up a small, little blue orb of fire from the young man's chest, but it was there and gone so quickly she was almost sure that she'd simply imagined it. Despite having died in no small amount of pain, Eric's visage held none of the pain he must've been experiencing even drugged to the gills as he'd been, instead relaxed into a serene expression that told everyone that cared to look that he'd gone in peace.

Ishtar's weary sigh as she gently put Eric's hand in his lap before doing the same for the other was just enough to snap Karin's focus back to the self proclaimed goddess. "...Thank you for not interrupting, Karin. No one…no one should have to die alone."

"On that point we can agree." Karin solemnly replied before beckoning a few of her fellow doctors and their support to…to take Eric Daniels' body away to be properly cared for until they could arrange for his family to bring him home. "Unfortunately not everyone will be so fortunate."

To her surprise, Ishtar scoffed and slammed a fist down on the arm of the chair she was occupying. "If I wasn't so useless and weakened as I am after being asleep for so long, I could've stopped this whole thing from even beginning!"

Useless and weak. Karin had trouble matching those two words with the being in front of her. After everything she'd done… she still wasn't satisfied, she still spoke as though all of this were mere trivialities. "Are we sure we're talking about the same person, Ishtar? Because I seem to recall that you blasted several of the invaders' ships out of high orbit. You've likely bought us a great deal of time to prepare for the next wave, and you can be assured General Williams will do everything he can to prepare for it."

"...I know that, but I just wish I could do more because humanity's always been my people…" Ishtar's sorrow was palpable as she pulled her knees up to her chin, looking unusually forlorn, for her from what they'd all seen thus far anyway. Suddenly she no longer looked like a strange whimsical being or a goddess, but rather like a lone young woman in a difficult situation. "I'm far from home, Babylonia as I once knew it is long gone to the dust of time, and no one remembers that the gods once held true power over reality itself. I don't know why I've been woken up as I have been…only that I don't feel like I've done much of anything but stall the campaign of death and destruction these alien beings have left behind already."

"Both of which would've been far worse if you hadn't been here at all, Ishtar." Karin's surprised almost as much as Ishtar is at the strength in her own words, but she doesn't let it stop her from hopefully shaking the strange woman out of her understandable emotional anguish. Even if she still didn't quite believe she was a goddess from Ancient Babylonia, there was no question Ishtar was much more than a mere human being. "You might not feel that you've done enough, that you're somehow useless, but you've done far more than anyone had ever expected. You've given us hope in what's turned out to be the second most defining moment of humanity's history to date. Hope that was looking quite thin before you made your wrath known to those who have slaughtered countless innocent people for reasons thus far unknown."

A shadow of a smile had at least begun to form on Ishtar's face again as she slowly looked up, and met Karin's gaze. "Th-thank you, Karin. I'm sorry…I guess even I needed the reminder that even we gods were far from infallible, or immune to hopelessness. All of this has been incredible, but I was also trying hard not to think about…everything I've long since left behind." She admitted with another forlorn sigh before glancing off to the side. "I might still be weak, but there's still at least one thing I can do, although it'll leave me further exhausted to pull it off. Thankfully a good night's sleep will help, but…call it a mana transfer, would help more, and it'd be much quicker. Unfortunately what I told General Williams, that he wouldn't like what that entailed, holds true."

"What would you need?" Karin found herself asking despite dreading the answer.

"There's a reason why blood sacrifices were so common in ancient times. Magical power, even in those without the gift themselves, is contained in the blood. In that case, we simply fed on the life given to empower us, but I doubt anyone would be willing to volunteer given that such an offering was all too often fatal to the one making said offering." Ishtar paused before pinning Karin in place with a look that left the doctor breathless for some reason. "Other bodily fluids can also work to a lesser degree. Like say for example… sexual fluids are also very helpful."

"Of course they are…" Karin sighed, shaking her head in a mix of amusement and exasperation. "Is that why you're rumored to have had temple prostitutes among your followers?"

"That and I just love being around beautiful people." Ishtar admitted with a shrug before glancing towards the now empty bed. "...I could've saved him, but I'd have sacrificed what strength I have left to do it, strength that could be used to save many more all at once."

"I see… so what are you planning to do?" Karin asked, a sensation of nervousness spreading through her as she felt that whatever would happen next it would change things in ways she couldn't imagine.

"Whatever I can." Ishtar replied, leaving Karin to wonder what she intended to do. She didn't have to wonder for long as Ishtar rose up into the air, just until her head was almost brushing against the ceiling. Her presence though continued to grow much, much further as gentle gold light began to pour off of her. Unlike the last time she burst with light, this wasn't her wrathful anger being poured forth, but it didn't make it any less captivating as Karin felt a wave of confidence wash over her. A certainty that tomorrow would be all the brighter so long as they fought the enemies of today with everything they had. Without needing to check, Karin was pretty sure the entire base was being suffused with the same feelings. A literal shot of confidence, meant to bolster morale even more than it'd already been when Ishtar had obliterated several of the enemy vessels as she had.

Backs straightened, weariness disappeared, and a new light in her colleagues' eyes began to burn as they too were affected by Ishtar's efforts. The waves of power continued to radiate off of her, Karin could feel it even if she couldn't explain it. On and on it went, as Ishtar poured more of her will, of her being into whatever she was doing… before she slowly, unsteadily lowered herself back down, crashing into the now vacant bed, eyes closed, breath shallow, but the feeling remained.

About three hundred miles away Nora Andersen blunted the Turians' attempt to escape encirclement. Despite the suddenness of the attack, the ferocity of her foes, and their superior equipment, she and her men never faltered or hesitated, driving them back, killing or capturing any that had taken part in this ill fated assault. Even the hastily gathered mercenaries and militia landed one shot after another, charging at them as though they were invulnerable, and given the fact that not one of them had died, she began to wonder if maybe right now, in this moment, they were. More likely they were just getting lucky, but she wasn't about to split hairs as she joined their fire with her own, laying down the hurt with her sniper rifle from half a city block away.

"Bullseye." She muttered, nailing another one of these scaly bastards right through what passed for its mouth, its mandibles open in an expression of shock as it fell flat on its ass with a new hole through the back of its head. He probably didn't even know it'd died with how quickly she'd blown its brains all over the concrete. Whatever was going on, she was just hoping it lasted until this shit show was over. "Goddamn aliens fucked with the wrong species."

Two hundred miles away from a sniper and her people, Samantha Harris beckoned another group of civilians into the tram station that would lead them to safety just as an enemy patrol started to close in on them. "Shit! Where the Hell is my idiot brother when you need him?!" She growled, regretting her choice of not signing up with Steve when she had the chance when they were younger and more foolish. She'd laughed at the idea of laying down her life for people she'd never meet, of possibly dying on a planet far from home. Now though…she was regretting not learning how to protect herself or those she was trying to get to safety. At least that way she'd have a snowball's chance in Hell of doing something besides hiding.

Then again, there were literal aliens walking down streets she'd grown used to calling home since moving out to the frontier of human controlled space. What were they supposed to do against literal aliens?! But even if all she could do was run and hide, she wasn't about to leave people to die if she could help it. Gritting her teeth in determination, Sarah mentally kicked her own ass before jumping to her feet. "Hey, birdfaces! Over here assholes!" She shouted, running for all she was worth as they predictably gave chase. "Really hope my time as the star of the track team doesn't fail me now!" She muttered, half expecting to catch a bullet to the back any second now, yet she managed to dart aside of every shot that got too close for comfort. Whatever was giving her feet wings in this crucial moment as she played distraction for that last group of people who wisely kept their heads down instead of calling after her, Sarah just hoped it lasted until she got outta this mess she'd put herself into. Steve was never gonna let her hear the end of this one though, assuming they both survived.

God she really hoped they did, just so she could endure him telling her 'I told you so!'.

"Alright boys and girls, we're closing in!" Captain James Shepard said over the comms as he and his fighter squadron swooped and dived around the alien fighters that had dared touch one taloned finger on Shanxi. "Biggs, Wedge, stay on my ass and let's show these freaks what the Alliance Navy can do!"

"Yes sir!" Both of his wingmen shouted while the rest of his squad echoed the same.

"Enemy landing zone coming up." Pyro reported with eager anticipation in her voice. He could practically hear her looking for things to blow up.

"Looks like it's a target rich environment for us." Dice chuckled sardonically. "I call dibs on the big ugly looking thing." James assumed the 'big ugly looking thing' that Dice was talking about was the troop transport that was even then offloading more of their equipment, and…was that an AA gun?!

"Incoming enemy fire." Cipher said, calm as ever. "Looks like they're trying to make things interesting."

He opened his mouth to respond when he suddenly felt… something wash over him and his body moved without him having to even think. Not here, there! His instincts seemed to say as he moved his ship through a hail of fire, and saw his squadron do the same. Not one shot splashed against their shields, not a single one. Moments later, the AA gun that the enemy had just powered up and fired at them was turned into so much scrap metal by Pyro's flawlessly executed bombing run. "I don't know what's going on, Big Boss, but I like it!"

"I saw Pyro, good work. Let's mop up the rest of these fighters and go home for resupply." James replied, grinning from ear to ear as his people proved just as capable against their opponents in the air. Whatever was happening, he could get used to it as they all but danced around the formerly superior fighters that had outclassed them in every other engagement before now. They had given as good as they'd gotten, but now…it was like the roles had been switched. Sure, the aliens' tech was still better in every way, but whatever instincts that had seen them through AA fire was also ensuring they didn't get splashed by enemy missiles or whatever passed for machine gunfire for these folks. A timely dodge had one of their own missiles slamming into another enemy fighter as James passed within inches below the poor bastard before opening up on the one right in front of him. Shields fell, the armor was shredded, and the alien inside only saw the burn of his engines before he was clear of the explosion moments later.

"Yeesh…I could definitely get used to this." He muttered over the squadron's comms.

"I don't think any of us have seen you fly this good, Big Boss. Who knew you were capable of flying in more than a straight line." Cipher of all people quipped, earning a round of chuckles from everyone else, James included.

"Yeah yeah laugh it up guys. I can still have you scrubbing latrines when this is all over." He retorted, smiling despite the threat he'd thrown out to his squadmates. "In the meantime, hit 'em again and make 'em regret ever coming here."

Without anything else needing to be said, they moved in for another attack run. They'll have to figure out where they could resupply here eventually, for the moment though they had plenty of energy, fuel, and ammunition left to make things interesting. Good music too- wait music? "For fucks sake Dice!"

"You know you like it, Big Boss." Dice shamelessly replied, blaring one of his favorite tracks over the open channel.

"Fine... but only this once." James would never admit it, but he'd always liked Dice's classic rock music he played in moments like these.

"Haha! Right on! At this rate, we might even get these guys off our world just in time for you to get home to the missus!" Dice cheered, with James rolling his eyes as, sure enough, the rest of his people happily joined in the good natured ribbing all while they continued to dance around the enemy fighters. He had no idea what was going on, and to be honest, he didn't care.

Because at this moment, it felt like victory was inevitable.

Space, in the vicinity of Shanxi

General Desolas Arterius POV…

Everything was suddenly going wrong.

The mysterious woman had, thankfully, disappeared for the time being, perhaps to lure them into a false sense of security, maybe to lick her wounds or recover. That didn't stop these primitives from annihilating what little ground forces he had managed to land on the planet.

It was going… badly.

Far more badly than it should. They had the superior technology, they had trained for this their whole lives, they had fought on a whole plethora of different worlds. They had the experience these primitives couldn't hope to match, and yet again and again his forces were being overcome. Under different circumstances he would've supported them with reinforcements, air and orbital support, everything he could bring to bear.

Not now though.

He had lost too many ships already, he didn't dare to move closer to the planet and risk losing more, especially if that alien woman was still able to fight. If he did… then what remained of the enemy fleet may actually start to be a serious threat rather than a mere annoyance. Yet being helpless to do anything but watch as his remaining ground troops were wiped out didn't sit well with him either, not in the slightest.

That said, none of the crew questioned his decision either. He knew that there'd been… reservations about using a mass driver on a garden world, even if they had followed their orders. Once this… thing had survived a direct hit though… all those reservations had died, especially when she'd returned the favor and then some. He never would've expected that no less than six of his fleet would just be blown away like they were nothing but dust in a solar storm, yet the truth was all too easy to see given how many of his ships weren't in formation anymore.

He still had absolutely no idea how that…thing had done it.

Still, with the reports of being overrun ever increasing, he couldn't help but feel like he should do… something. Something more than just sit around and wait for reinforcements to arrive. "Sir? The enemy fleet is coming around for another pass." The sensor officer reported tiredly, and Desolas latched onto that instantly.

This was an enemy he could fight, this was something that he could do.

"Turn towards the enemy fleet, prepare to engage and pursue them. This time we will run them down." Desolas declared as his mandibles flared in irritation. Thankfully, Captain Vakarian beside him seemed to be of the same mind, and didn't try to question his decision.

"All ahead full." The captain declared mere moments later and the turian fleet suddenly raced to meet the enemy still moving around the gas giant they had hid behind. They'd sling themselves straight into their guns.

The general heard noises coming from the sensor officer's console who frowned at the holographic displays, recalibrated them, and looked again. His mouth fell open in shock. "S-sir? New vessels, three more cruiser sized, no.. five! And… Sir, the enemy ships, they have reinforcements!"

"What?!" The captain barked in disbelief, just as a shot smashed into their forward shields. It barely weakened them, it was far, far too weak to truly damage them either, but it was felt. A simple declaration wrapped in the guise of an attack.

We have come. It seemed to say. We are death!

Vergil1989's Build

Missile Command - Orbital Edition: You played a little missile interception with the Turians' orbital bombardment efforts. If we didn't know any better, we'd say you were having fun going old school arcade gaming on their asses. 10/2 Points

I Am Invincible!: You took a mass driver round to the face (well stomach but that's just details), and just walked it off without a scratch to show for it. You also made the Turians collectively soil themselves as you turned everything they thought they knew on its head. 20/2 Points

A Goddess's Wrath: You obliterated several of General Desolas' fleet in a grand display of divine fury and vengeance for all that they've done against your people. 30/2 Points

Irkalla Calls Thee Home: You were there for a marine's last breath, giving him a gentle sendoff that was well deserved given his brave sacrifice in defense of his people, his home, his loved ones. It was…a truly touching moment. 20/2 Points

My Blessings Upon Thee: Despite using up what strength you had left at the time, you gave quite the confidence booster to everyone on Shanxi, blessing them with instinctual awareness of danger and the confidence to take full advantage of said blessing. War is no longer the Turians' sole purview thanks to you. 30/2 Points

45 5 10 15 10 15 = 100 Account Balance

-86 5 10 15 10 15 = -31 Debt Balance

End Notes: RIP Desolas… or well, maybe not. Maybe capture his ass, boarding actions and the like, we'll just have to see what happens. That aside, Ishtar's definitely made quite the impact, and we even got to see Mr. Shepard in action. Yes we made him a fighter pilot, you can blame Nomad-117 for that idea lol. Still, hopefully you all enjoy guys and gals. Real quick while I got your attention though, I'm gonna be heading on a trip to Chicago for my youngest brother's Dream Factory Make a Wish thing he got a few years ago, but when Covid hit, the trip was canceled. We finally have everything working in our favor though, so I'll be gone from Monday to Friday with the family, but it should be a fun time. At any rate, see ya folks!